Media Release
Mangaluru, Sep 1: Lourdes Central School celebrated National Sports Day on August 29 with great enthusiasm, highlighting the importance of sports, physical fitness, teamwork and a healthy lifestyle among students and parents.
As part of the celebration, various competitions were organized for students and parents. Chess was conducted for grades 1 to 6, football for grades 7 to 12, basketball for grades 7 to 10, and a house-wise badminton tournament for grades 9 to 12. A badminton tournament for parents of grades 7 to 12 was also conducted with enthusiastic participation.
The prize distribution ceremony for all competitions was held during the special morning assembly on 29th August. Winners and runners-up were felicitated with prizes and trophies in the presence of the school management, principal, staff and students.
The special morning assembly was conducted by the students of grade 1C under the guidance of their class teacher, madam Priya, on the theme 'The Game of Life – Team Dreams vs Team Excuses'.
The assembly began creatively with referees entering with a whistle, unveiling the placard 'Welcome to the Game of Life' and the scoreboard. The proceedings included prayer and prayer song, preamble recitation with placards of justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, a creative thought for the day through a mirror – 'I have to become better than the person I was yesterday', news headlines and birthday prayer.
A special tribute to Major Dhyan Chand was the highlight. Through a symbolic passing of an old hockey stick and a student enacting Major Dhyan Chand, the message 'Talent begins the journey, hard work completes it' was effectively conveyed.
In his address, principal Fr Johnson L Sequeira appreciated the little players of grade 1C for their confident presentation. He inspired the Lourdite family to always walk in the steps of honesty and integrity and to choose team dreams through hard work and determination. The students responded with great enthusiasm.
In the finale, the children defined a true champion as one who is kind, honest, fair and humble, and took a pledge to dream big, work hard, play fair and become a better person every single day.
The lively and value-based celebration concluded with the school anthem and was appreciated by all. The assembly was also live-streamed on YouTube. The celebration successfully reinforced the message that sports play an important role in building a healthy, disciplined and well-balanced life.